Ecclestone joins Sir Jackie Stewart in tipping Schumacher for retirement in 2011, after a third consecutive lacklustre performance by the Mercedes driver dropped him 54 points behind team-mate Nico Rosberg.

"If Schumacher doesn't perform I doubt whether he will want to stay," Ecclestone told City AM

Although the F1 CEO insists it is not Schumacher who is at fault for the poor results.

"He is obviously fit, motivated and talented but the car hasn't been up to him," he added.

Ecclestone said he had been very impressed by Red Bull that he believes "deserves to win" this season and he still tips Sebastian Vettel for the title.

"Red Bull bought a team that was no good, it's not like they bought Ferrari," said Ecclestone.

He added that Mark Webber had been the surprise package this year: "Mark has done a good job. I would never have believed it at the beginning of this year if somebody had said to me he is going to do this."